Jets GM discusses Alosi suspension

On Monday New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum addressed the media regarding the team’s suspension of coach Sal Alosi. Here is the transcript courtesy of the Jets.

Opening Statement…

“I’m going to start out by reiterating our apologies to Nolan Carroll and the whole Dolphins organization for what happened. We have a (release) that Bruce (Speight) is passing out. Hopefully, we are going to learn from what happen yesterday and take full responsibility for it. We are really disappointed with Sal (Alosi) for what happened and we are going to hold him accountable for his actions.”

On if the league was involved in this decision…

“We felt it was appropriate for us to hold him (accountable) and to issue the discipline. Rex (Ryan), Woody (Johnson) and I spoke multiple times today. We did speak to the league office more than once today as well. At the end of the day, this was our punishment and something we felt was appropriate.”

On when Alosi will be allowed to return to his position…

“The suspension will occur as long as the season does. If there is a postseason, it would include the postseason.”

On if firing Alosi was considered…

“I don’t want to deal with hypothetical (questions), except to say that we looked at everything and we felt that like this was the appropriate action to take.”

On the details of Alosi’s fine…

“His suspension is without pay. Above and beyond that, there is a $25,000 fine.”

On who will take over the position…

“The number two guy, Bryan Dermody. He’ll report directly to Rex for the length of the suspension.”

On the conversation with Alosi…

“I think as you saw, Sal feels terrible for what he did and yet he took ownership, which I respect. It’s something we take very seriously here and we are extremely disappointed with what he did. There is no place for it in the game and he knows that. It’s our job to hold him accountable for that.”

On how Alosi responded to the news…

“He accepted it. It was a pretty quick conversation. We told him why were doing it and what we were doing. He understood it, he accepted it, and effective today, he’s suspended.”

On whether he would be allowed on the sideline if he returns to the team next season…

“That’s something we’ll look at in 2011 and moving forward. We haven’t made a decision on that yet.”

On when he let him know of the organization’s decision to suspend him…

“I don’t know, maybe an hour ago. He knew that, obviously, there was something coming down the pike. We just had a lot of conversations today, Rex (Ryan), Woody (Johnson) and I (and) I, spoke to the league a couple of times, so the process just took a little while.”

On how much the league had to do with the decision…

“We took the lead. We kind of laid out the options internally, discussed it (and) we ran a few things by them a couple of times. Again, we felt it was really important that as an organization, we came out and (Alosi) knew that, for what he did, there was going to be significant consequences.”

On if the league will punish him…

“(It is) my understanding, that this will be the only discipline for Sal.”

On his initial reaction to the incident on the sidelines…

“Bruce brought it to my attention after the game and I was really disappointed. Obviously, player safety is a huge concern, and to see that a player got hurt on a play like that, I was really floored by it. Obviously, from there, you guys know all of the events, talking to Sal, he owned up to it, the TV copy is pretty clear about what happened.”

On if it was designed for the staff to be standing in a line close to the boundary…

“We don’t coach that. Coach Westhoff does not coach that. Coach Ryan does not coach that. We try to follow those rules as closely as possible, the player safety rules. I had a discussion with the league about that, as well. Sal is in charge, as the “get-back coach,” but that’s not something we try to coach at all.”